How to protect yourself from shingles without getting a shingles vaccine

Coming home to roost

“I was one miserable guy.”

That’s how Dr. Spreen describes his bout, years ago, with shingles

Another friend of mine, Barbara, calls her shingles experience “the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

So should you consider getting the shingles vaccine to reduce your risk of all that misery and pain?

Pox in hiding

If you had chicken pox as a child, then you’re at risk of developing a case of shingles. Long after the chicken pox is gone, the virus that caused it (varicella zoster virus, VZV) lies dormant in nerve roots.

VZV may rest quietly there for all your days. But for people whose immune systems are compromised by stressful events or immunity-suppressing drugs, VZV may suddenly come roaring back as a case of shingles.

The shingles vaccine (known as Zostavax) was approved by the FDA in 2006. But in terms of what we know about adverse side effects, it’s still brand spanking new. Also relatively new: A 2008 official CDC recommendation that people over the age of 60 receive the vaccine.

So: To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? When I put this question to Dr. Spreen, he said that in spite of his own experience, he wouldn’t take Zostavax for a king’s ransom.

Dr. Spreen: “ALL vaccinations are suspect until they’ve been monitored for decades (for long-term dangers), and this vaccine obviously could not fall in that category.

“BESIDES, why not just prevent shingles with B-12 (which also is an excellent treatment for them once you get them) and lysine (which also can be used to treat them).

“I had shingles once…and badly: Zoster ophthalmicus affects the eyes and can even cost you your vision. I was working on a ship (enclosed, recirculated air environment), and had had some poor dental work in port. From that I got the flu, had to stay up late treating patients, and that led to shingles. I was one miserable guy, but I had the nurse give me B-12 shots every day for 3 days and that was the end of it (though my vision was foggy for a week before clearing).”

Bumping the ratio

When I asked Dr. Spreen about preventing shingles with vitamin B-12, he suggested that 500 mcg per day would probably be a good insurance policy because B-12 protects the nerves. Supplementing with lysine (an essential amino acid) is a little more complicated.

Dr. Spreen: “With lysine you have to be more careful, as you’re playing with something called the lysine/arginine ratio. Lysine competes with arginine in the body, and arginine is a stimulant of growth hormone, so you don’t want to drive that down unless you have a real reason. And an arginine supplement isn’t a solution because you’re trying to alter the ratio to make it less favorable to the virus.

“That said, if you GET shingles, then 3 grams (3,000 mg) of lysine daily can do a lot (a LOT) to shorten the duration and lessen the pain/itch right off). Given that a person has developed shingles (or, rather, gets them fairly often), at that point I’d go on 500 mg of lysine daily (between meals) as insurance after kicking the previous outbreak. But I wouldn’t take lysine just because I had chicken pox as a kid.”

In supplement form, high doses of lysine may increase gallstone risk and raise cholesterol levels, so lysine supplementation should be monitored by a nutritionally oriented physician.